News

LAS VEGAS – A federal jury has convicted Latonia Smith of cyberstalking and threatening two district court judges and a probation officer, all of whom were involved in her previous federal conviction for death threats she made against lawyers in yet another case.

SAN DIEGO – Alleged Sinaloa Cartel cell leader Brian Donaciano Olguin-Verdugo, aka Pitt, who is believed responsible for trafficking large amounts of cocaine into the United States from Mexico, appeared in federal court today following his extradition from Colombia.

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 83 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing

SAN DIEGO – John Washburn, general manager of San Diego Powder & Protective Coatings in El Cajon, pleaded guilty in federal court today to engaging in a pattern or practice of hiring undocumented immigrants without authorization to work. As part of the plea agreement, Washburn admitted that he knew at least 10 workers were undocumented immigrants at the company, and that three were living in a company warehouse where U.S. Navy submarine components were being stored. These charges stemmed from a search warrant that was served by federal agents at the company’s warehouses in March of this year.

SAN DIEGO – A federal grand jury indictment was unsealed in San Diego Friday alleging that 13 Guatemalan nationals are part of a Guatemala-based cocaine trafficking organization operating out of La Mesilla and Democracia, Huehuetenango, Guatemala, which is on the Guatemala-Mexico border.

SAN DIEGO – Edgar Herrera Pardo, aka Caiman, an admitted violent cartel enforcer who ordered the killing of a Tijuana police officer, was sentenced in federal court today to 28 years in prison for trafficking large quantities of methamphetamine and heroin into the United States.

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 116 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

SAN DIEGO – Danny Nunez of San Diego was sentenced in federal court today to 188 months in prison for providing the fentanyl that resulted in the fatal overdose of a 25-year-old Escondido woman in 2024.

SAN DIEGO – George Joseph Wellinger II was sentenced in federal court today to six months in custody and four months of home confinement for intentionally threatening a member of the LGBTQ community with violence via email.

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 131 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

SAN DIEGO – A federal complaint was filed today charging Erick Arriola, Baltazar Rodriguez Reyes and Eugenio Lizama, alleged drivers of drug-laden vans and a truck, with conspiring to distribute almost four tons of methamphetamine.